The single most asked question I get is…”How much will it cost me to buy a house in Italy?”
They rarely mean the purchase price, but they have heard horror stories about vast taxes, ludicrous legal costs, and Estate Agent fees.
It’s a simple answer… “It depends!”
It could cost anywhere from 3-30% of the purchase price, it will always cost more if you use an estate agent, these fees usually start at €3000.
Taxes, notary fees, surveys, all have costs, but as with much else Italian, it depends who, and how you ask as to what they will be!
We will guide you through this process, or rather the local, legally qualified expert, which we introduce you to will…we will deal with all of the introductions, manage the process from first introduction to seeing you home after the purchase at the notary office, and handle all translation for you.
Our beloved area of Piedmont and Liguria is blessed with relatively low real estate prices (if you know where to look) along with some of the most spectacular natural beauty in the world…add the very low seismic activity rating, and it becomes even better!
Lower cost housing is the market sector that we see the higher percentage purchase costs in, when an Agent wants to charge €3000 to sell you a €15,000 apartment, as well as all of the other fees, it soon makes the total cost seem unrealistic.
We have negotiated some fantastic deals with agents, many of them would rather have a sale at a reduced fee, than no sale (they get paid by the purchaser, and vender).
We also have local access to homes which you would normally never see, that is the “for sale by vendor” property.
With these there are no agents to pay, you do the deal directly with the owner…saving you a minimum of €3000, and tens of thousands for more luxurious properties.
The problem with this for U.K. residents is that they are usually advertised in bars, local shops, and signs on the house.
This is not convenient for most people, they don’t have the time to drive around looking, or (often) the language skills required to start the ball rolling…so they miss out on fantastic properties, and end up paying far more than they need to when they do find one.
We can reduce those post sale costs for you, often hugely.
We will also negotiate purchase price with you, we know where your offer should be, to buy at the lowest cost, and as we take no commission from anyone, we have no interest in anything but getting you the best deal.
The one cost that very few people take into consideration is time and travel.
How much does a trip to Italy cost? What do you do if you need to do it two or three times before you find the right place? Not to mention the impact that a hectic house buying visit can have…it’s not much of a holiday if you are trying to find a remote farmhouse, and directions are not easy to understand!
Our fees are simple, laid out in advance of your search, and only payable once each part of the sales journey has been undertaken.
We have found that our fees are usually totally negated by the savings we make for you, the figures look even better if you include the amount of time you don’t waste!
We love talking Italy, property, and sharing our experiences of the area which we love.
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